Local commercial photographer named among world’s best

Lurzer’s Archive has named Robb Long Photography as one of the 200 best ad photographers in the world for 2018-19.

Long, who splits time between Sioux Falls and Minneapolis and works worldwide, will be featured alongside photographers from 30 countries in the advertising industry trade magazine.

The 200 Best series was launched by Lurzer’s Archive in 2004 to highlight the best creative work globally.

“I can remember going to bookstores long ago looking for inspiration and thumbing through the pages of this book,” Long said. “I’d be in absolute awe of the amazing photographs and dream that one day my work would be featured among the greatest visual storytelling talent in the world. To think that the inspiration that I always felt in looking at Archive’s 200 Best may now be passed along to some young shooter out there looking at my work is truly humbling. I am proud and thankful to be featured alongside photographers whose work I’ve admired and in the leading showcase of advertising photography on the planet.”

The issue will feature three of Long’s images among the 538 included, which were selected from more than 8,000 submissions worldwide. Two of Long’s images were shot for the Sioux Falls agency Insight Marketing Design for their clients Superior Grain Equipment and Oro Agri. The third is from a seven-image series personal project.

The Superior Grain Equipment shot captured a real farmer at work in his tractor on his farm in southwestern Minnesota. The Oro Agri image also featured a real farmer standing in the bed of his truck.

“I love creating authentic images for great brands and feel comfortable giving direction to help capture that decisive moment,” Long said.

The final image chosen was from a personal project, the culmination of Long’s lifelong love of test-driving cars and trucks. With a little inspiration from other shooters and a good nudge from his agent, he decided to set up his own test shoot and produced the image of the truck series that was selected.

Long is a Virginia native and earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in photography from the Savannah College of Art & Design in Georgia. He began his career as a photojournalist, working for newspapers, magazines and the Associated Press before transitioning to commercial photography in 2003. He specializes in lifestyle, agricultural, corporate and industrial photography.